Opticstar PL-131 Series User manual

Opticstar PL-131 / AG-131 COOLAIR
OPTICSTAR
Microsoft Windows
(64-bit & 32-bit)
7/8/10
Setup Guide

Opticstar PL-131 series. © Opticstar Ltd, 2021.
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Updated: 07/09/2021
1. Please read and follow the installation instructions on the following
pages for a trouble-free installation!
2. Do not drop your camera as this can result in serious damage.
3. Only use the supplied power supply unit if your camera comes with one.
4. Do not point the camera to a bright light source like the Sun without the
appropriate filters as this will damage the sensor.
5. Disconnect the camera from the computer when not in use.
6. Treat the camera glass window with the same care as you would of a
photographic lens.
CAUTION
!
Manufacturer’s Warranty
This product has a 12 month back to base warranty. For after
sales support, please contact Opticstar at: [e-mail]

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Introduction....................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Software Support ......................................................................................................................................................... 3
Package Contents ........................................................................................................................................................ 3
Camera Installation........................................................................................................................................................... 4
Installing Software for Windows DirectShow ............................................................................................................ 5
Installing the PL-131 Driver Software (32-bit or 64-bit)............................................................................................. 7
Installing etAMCAP......................................................................................................................................................... 11
Video Capture with etAMCAP ................................................................................................................................... 11
Exposure Time ........................................................................................................................................................... 12
Manual Exposure Time.............................................................................................................................................. 12
Timing Units and Exposure Time ............................................................................................................................. 12
Region of Interest....................................................................................................................................................... 13
Colour Synthesis for the PL-131C (colour model) .................................................................................................. 13
Gamma, Contrast and Saturation (colour model) ................................................................................................... 14
Video Capture........................................................................................................................... 14
Post Processing ......................................................................................................................................................... 14
Installing Opticstar View ................................................................................................................................................ 15
Camera Control .......................................................................................................................................................... 16
Frame Rate.................................................................................................................................................................. 16
Camera Configuration................................................................................................................................................ 16
Colour Adjustment Tab.............................................................................................................................................. 17
Exposure Tab ............................................................................................................................................................. 17
Other Tab .................................................................................................................................................................... 17
Image Capture........................................................................................................................... 18
Image Processing` ..................................................................................................................................................... 19
Installing Nebulosity....................................................................................................................................................... 20
Opticstar PL-131 Plug-in for Nebulosity................................................................................................................... 20
Opticstar PL-131 Plug-in for AstroArt ...................................................................................................................... 21
Binning and ROI Modes........................................................................................................... 21
Gain and StarView.................................................................................................................... 21
Opticstar PL-131 Plug-in for MaxIm DL.................................................................................................................... 22
Binning and ROI Modes........................................................................................................... 22
Gain and StarView.................................................................................................................... 22
Telescope Control and Auto-Guiding with the AG-131 ............................................................................................... 23
System Requirements................................................................................................................................................ 23
ASCOM Software........................................................................................................................................................ 23
PHD Guiding ............................................................................................................................................................... 23
Installing the PL-131 Plug-in for PHD Guiding....................................................................... 23
Selecting the Camera in PHD Guiding..................................................................................... 24
Shoestring GPUSB..................................................................................................................................................... 24
Assembling your Auto-Guiding Hardware............................................................................................................... 25
Auto-Guiding................................................................................................................................................................... 26
Imaging and Auto-guiding With Two Scopes .......................................................................................................... 26
Imaging and Auto-guiding With a Single Scope...................................................................................................... 27
Troubleshooting.............................................................................................................................................................. 28
USB Requirements..................................................................................................................................................... 28
Express Card .............................................................................................................................................................. 28
Re-Installing the Software Drivers............................................................................................................................ 28
Support ............................................................................................................................................................................ 29
Other Software ................................................................................................................................................................ 29
Microscope Attachments ............................................................................................................................................... 29
Camera Specification................................................................................................................................................. 30

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Introduction
The PL-131 series of video cameras include the PL-131C COOLAIR (colour model) and the PL-
131M COOLAIR (monochrome model). The PL-131 is the successor to the popular PL-130 but
includes a number of significant enhancements such as:
•Twice the speed and the frame rate.
•Higher light sensitivity.
•Improved dynamic range and image quality.
•Region of Interest (ROI) in hardware. User definable.
The PL-131 achieves frame rates of up to 22 frames per second (FPS) at full resolution: 1280x1024
pixels, or up to 80 FPS at 640x480 pixels or up to 220 FPS at 320x240 pixels.
The PL-131 is suitable for imaging the planets, the Moon and the Sun. The camera is also suitable
for microscopy when fitted with an appropriate attachment.
Software Support
The maximum frame rates are possible in conjunction with the etAMACAP and Opticstar View
software applications that are included on the bundled CD. Alternatively, if the emphasis is to
process individual frames rather than a video stream, then the PL-131 can be used with the
following software applications:
•Nebulosity for image processing (Nebulosity Lite included on the CD).
•PHD Guiding for auto-guiding (included on the CD).
•AstroArt for advanced image capture, image processing and auto-guiding.
•MaxIm DL for advanced image capture, image processing and auto-guiding.
Package Contents
This Setup Guide includes instructions for the Opticstar PL-131 and Opticstar AG-131. The AG-
131 includes the PL-131 camera plus the Shoestring GPUSB interface for telescope control. Prior
to the installation, please ensure that the following items are included in the box.
Opticstar PL-131 contents:
•Opticstar PL-131 video camera.
•CS to 1.25” telescope adapter.
•USB cable.
•Software CD.
•Setup Guide (this document).
Additionally, the AG-131 includes the following items:
•Shoestring GPUSB interface box for telescope control via the Guide Port (ST4).
•Coiled cable to connect the GPUSB to the Guide port on the telescope mount.
Please note that for solar photography, the camera should be
used only with an appropriate solar telescope and/or solar
filters.

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Camera Installation
The minimum computer system requirements are the following:
•Windows (32-bit or 64-bit) 7/8/10 with the latest Service Pack.
•USB 2.0 port for the camera.
There are several pieces of software to install in order to add support for the PL-131 camera to
Windows. It is not necessary to install all the supplied software but the Windows drivers and
Windows DirectShow support (steps 1 & 2) should be installed as a minimum. The remaining
software may be installed as needed depending on the user’s specific application.
1. Windows DirectShow software for the PL-131.
2. Windows software drivers for the PL-131.
3. EtAMCAP application software for camera control and video capture.
4. Opticstar View application software with more advanced functions and usability.
5. Nebulosity Lite for single shot image capture and processing.
6. PHD Guiding for telescope auto-guiding.
7. Plug-in for AstroArt support (you must already have AstroArt to use this).
8. Plug-in for MaxIm DL support (you must already have MaxIm DL to use this).
Anti-virus software may attempt to block the software
installation. In such cases the anti-virus software should be
temporarily disabled. Otherwise, when prompted, add the
installation files to the trusted list.
The installation of the software should be carried out by a user
with Windows administrator permissions. Otherwise, the
installation may fail.
Please ensure that the camera is not connected to the computer
yet.
The camera does not incorporate any optics and therefore it
cannot reach focus by itself. A C/CS mounted lens must be used
with the camera or it must be attached to a telescope with the
nosepiece adapter that is included with the camera. To attach it
to a microscope, please use an appropriate attachment.

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Installing Software for Windows DirectShow
The first step is to install software that makes the PL-131 compatible with Microsoft’s Windows
DirectShow model. Such compliance allows the PL-131 to be used with etAMCAP and possibly
other third-party applications.
1. Navigate to the DirectShow folder on the CD and open the appropriate program for your
camera. There are two options:
•PL-131C-setup.exe for the colour camera.
•PL-131M-setup.exe for the monochrome camera.
2. A message will appear “Welcome to the Device Driver Installation Wizard”. Click on the
Next button to continue.
Step 1: Open the appropriate installation program. Step 2: Click Next to start software installation.
3. Windows may display a warning message such as Windows can’t verify the publisher of this
driver software. Select “Install this driver anyway” to continue.
4. The next message will confirm that “The drivers are now installing…”.
Step 3: Ignore the Windows warning. Step 4: Installation in progress.

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5. Windows should confirm that the “Drivers were successfully installed on your computer”.
Click Finish to continue.
6. Finally, if Windows asks to restart the computer, select “Yes”.
Step 6: Drivers installed successfully. Step 7: Restart the computer.
DirectShow support can be removed from the Windows Control
Panel independently of the camera’s Windows software drivers.
Click the Add / Remove Programs icon (on XP) or Programs
and Features (on 7/8/10) or Apps & Features (on Windows
10), and remove the entry headed “PL-131…”.

Opticstar PL-131 series. © Opticstar Ltd, 2021.
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Installing the PL-131 Driver Software (32-bit or 64-bit)
Please follow the instructions below in order to install the Windows drivers for the camera.
1. Insert the CD in the drive.
2. Connect the camera to a USB 2.0 port on your computer.
3. A window will appear with the heading Found New Hardware, giving three options.
Select “Locate and Install Driver Software”. Windows will search for the camera drivers.
Step 3: Searching for driver software.
Step3: Install driver software.
4. Windows will ask for the CD that came with camera (insert the CD if not present).
5. The drivers should now be installed and you can proceed on page 11. Otherwise, if
Windows fails to find the drivers, it will display that Windows failed to find the driver
software and prompt for action. Select, Browse my computer for driver software.
Step 5: Windows failed to find driver software. Step 5: Browse computer for drivers.

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6. The drivers are located in the Drivers\PL-131C (colour camera) and Drivers\PL-131M
(monochrome camera) folders on the CD. Each folder contains a 32-bit and a 64-bitsub-
folder. Direct Windows to the appropriate folder. Windows will now install the driver
software.
7. Sometimes, Windows will fail to identify the drivers. If this is the case, a message box will
appear saying that “Windows was unable to install your 1.3M USB2.0 Camera”.
Step 6: Direct Windows to the Drivers folder. Step 7: Unable to install the camera.
8. In this case, the driver software should be installed manually. Click on the Start button on the
Windows desktop and from Settings > Control Panel, select Device Manager. The camera
should appear in the list with an explanation mark next to it, indicating that the drivers have not
been installed yet.
9. Right-click on the camera description and from the pop-up menu select Update Driver
Software.
Step 8: Open Device Manager to locate the camera. Step 9: Update the driver software.

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10. Windows will ask “How do you want to search for driver software?”. Select “Browse
my computer for driver software”to continue.
11. On the next dialog box select “Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my
computer”.
Step 10: Browse for driver software. Step 11: Pick from a list of device drivers.
12. Windows will ask to Select your device’s type from the list below. Select “Imaging
devices” and click on the Next button.
13. On the next message box Windows will display: Select the device driver you want to
install this hardware. Click the Have disk button.
Step 12: Select device type. Step 13: Have a disk.